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Burma’s new media law has come up for debate before parliament. Some rights groups say the law is a significant step backward for a country that only recently banned censorship. The proposed law could make life more difficult for journalists. …

Vietnam is one of the top 10 countries in the world where press freedom suffered the most setbacks during 2012, a leading media advocacy group said this week, citing stepped-up imprisonment of journalists as a reason for the decline.…

Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi says there is a “great eagerness” in her country for U.S. sanctions to be removed. AIn a Tuesday speech in Washington, she said U.S. relations with Burma should be based on accountability. “I…

The Burmese government announced on Monday the lifting—after 50 years—of direct censorship of print media, removing requirements that journalists submit articles on religion or politics for government review before publication. Private daily newspapers remain banned, though, and regulations against publishing…

The head of Burma’s censorship board says a law has been drafted and is awaiting approval. Burma’s censorship chief insisted Wednesday that the country’s censorship board will be abolished in “a matter of months,” despite recent reports of a rollback…

British Foreign Secretary William Hague, on a visit to Burma, says European Union economic sanctions will not change until authorities release all political prisoners. The top British diplomat made the comments after holding separate meetings with democracy leader Aung San…

Burma is marking the 64th anniversary of its independence from Britain Wednesday, amid criticism that the government’s recent clemency program is not doing enough for political prisoners. President Thein Sein, in a statement commemorating independence day, praised the military’s role…

By Tyler Chapman In a reporter’s notebook, Tyler Chapman writes that journalists are pleased, but they know that restrictions can be reimposed at any time. The editor of True News, one of Rangoon’s weekly newspapers, decided recently to test the…

Burma has announced it will release thousands of prisoners as part of a general amnesty amid indications that political prisoners could be among those set free. A leading rights group has dismissed the news, though, as a ploy that shows…

The chief of Burma’s state censorship body has called for press freedom in the repressive nation, even suggesting his own department should be shut down. Tint Swe, director of the Press Scrutiny and Registration Department, told Radio Free Asia Friday…

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